Dharitri to launch Orissa Post

The Oriya daily plans to launch an English newspaper titled Orissa Post

Dharitri, the Orissa based daily, plans to enter into English language publication. The group plans to come out with Orissa Post, an English daily, early next year.

Orissa Post will be introduced in five editions, including Rayagada, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Angul and Balasore - the locations where the group already has its Oriya editions.

Dharitri was established on November 24, 1974 by the Samajbadi Society of Bhubaneswar. Today, it has five printing locations from where multiple editions are published. Four editions each of Dharitri are printed from Rayagada and Sambalpur, while seven editions are printed from Bhubaneswar, and one each edition is printed from Angul and Balasore.

The new entrant in the English space will face competition from newspapers such as The Statesman, New Indian Express and The Times of India. While both The Statesman and New Indian Express have their own printing facilities, The Times of India is published from a hired printing facility.

Talking about the upcoming newspaper, Tathagat Satpathy, chief editor, Dharitri, says, "Historically, Kolkata was an important station for the people of Orissa. Every movement from the state to the rest of the country happened via Kolkata. But not anymore - in terms of connectivity, Orissa is a much well off state now. Therefore, we felt that there is a need for an Orissa based publication - to have an edition which the locals can reckon with."

He adds, "Dharitri has been with the Oriya people since ages and in view of the development and industrialisation taking place in the state (which is leading to the young population finally staying back in the state), there is a need for a state grown daily which understands the needs of youngsters."

He emphasises that though there are quite a few English dailies being published from the state, they are not providing "enough local news coverage".

Through Orissa Post, the group plans to reach out to the young, educated and well informed audience of the state. The group also aims to cater to the youngsters who are not originally from the state but are residing there for work and want to know more about Orissa.

The group will initially start the five editions with a total print run of 1 lakh copies and within a span of one year, expand its circulation to 3 lakh copies.

This standalone English newspaper will follow a style of reporting similar to Dharitri, with emphasis on hardcore news.

As far as distribution strategy is concerned, the group plans to have "only exclusive agents" for the new daily. In coastal Orissa, the group has a dedicated network which distributes only Dharitri; in these places, the group will tie up with the existing team. In the rest of Orissa, where the group shares its agents with other publications, it will create a new dedicated set of agents.

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com